In a thrilling back-and-forth contest, the Navy baseball team (14-16) was defeated by Coppin State (11-17), 7-6, on Wednesday evening at Terwilliger Brothers Field at Max Bishop Stadium.
The game came down to the bottom of the ninth inning, with the Eagles holding a one-run lead. Despite matching his career high with four hits, Alex Smith and the Midshipmen were unable to push across the tying run.
Coppin State opened the scoring in the first inning with a bases-loaded walk and a wild pitch. They added to their lead in the second inning when Nathan Burdette scored on a Liam McCallum double.
Navy responded in the bottom of the second with a four-run outburst, including RBI singles from Nick Burch and Alex Smith.
Coppin State chipped away and eventually took the lead in the sixth inning after a Brody Black single and a Josh Hankins double. Navy tied the game again in the bottom of the fourth, but the Eagles retook the lead in the ninth inning with an RBI single from Brett Curran.
After a base-running mistake by Navy, Coppin State held on for the win, with reliever Giovanni Canales earning his first win of the season by lasting four innings and surrendering just one run.
Navy starter Evan Hamill lasted just 1.1 innings and surrendered three runs before being relieved by a string of six relievers. Despite the loss, Alex Smith extended his on-base streak to 18 straight games and recorded his third four-hit game of the season.
In postgame comments, Navy head coach Paul Kostacopoulos praised Smith’s leadership and discussed the need for the team to regroup and focus on cleaning up mistakes before their upcoming series against Holy Cross.
With the loss, Coppin State cut Navy’s edge in the all-time series to 25-9-1. The Mids will look to bounce back in their three-game Patriot League series against Holy Cross on April 8-9.